Modalics - Beat Scholar/New drum sequencer

[cptgone]

I use Sugarbytes Drumcomputer by itself, or to sequence Algonaut Atlas / D16 Drumazon (and many others, including the discontinued Tremor).

After watching a video of drumcomputer I can just say WOW... Definitely the most sophisticated drum plugin I've seen so far. The only thing that may come close seems to be HY-RPE2 but also looks much more complicated.
Combining beat scholars fun and creative core concept with drumcomputers well thought out featureset would probably end the discussion about drum sequencers

I think Modalics should really take a very close look at drumcomputer, this is the one to beat

Sugar Bytes Drumcomputer $67 at loot audio - cheapest I have seen. But this is not an either / or, it is a both!!! Beat Scholar AND DrumComputer. Playing with the Drmcomputer demo just now and the two seem very different

The sound engines do indeed complement each other (samples vs synthesis).

But I use many drum plugins, and would like 1 sequencer to rule 'em all (using more than one is suboptimal in terms of workflow and overview).

[Dr.Gunjah]

Not sure why I should buy both at this point since drumcomputer is far more advanced in pretty much every aspect. I've installed the demo of drumcomputer and after playing with it for an hour I just bought it. The sequencer is intuitive and fun and while it's not so cool like the pizza slices it's good enough for me and it has a lot more useful features that help you finish a track without having to dump the midi in your DAW for further editing at some point. And that's even without considering the playability that the mute/mapping zones offer or the built in drum synth.
All that being said I'll keep an eye on beat scholar because the concept is still interesting, but for now it just can't compete with drumcomputer in any area that matters to me

[Dr.Gunjah]

Thanks for this input, we're commited to improving Beat Scholar, we'll make sure it's still fun and creative while adding useful features for more interesting beat exploration

Just FYI - we just rolled out quite an important update for most of our plugins, Beat Scholar got a pretty big boost in the sampler section.
The highlights are:

• New Sampler Engine - Significantly better sound quality across the board for built-in & imported samples
  New Sample Formats Supported - Beat Scholar can now import samples in WAV, OGG, FLAC, AIFF & MP3 formats
  Added fine tuning mode for all params with holding shift+dragging knobs and sliders
  Added double click to edit for MIDI mapping mode (Just type in the notes instead of dragging up/down)
  Improved CPU performance for reverbs, even more so for Windows users.

Great to see progress in development

I think what beat scholar needs the most at this point is some sort of direction. Right now it's not a very good sampler/sample browser and also doesn't offer a lot of control via midi to trigger other samplers. Since you already have another drum plugin the latter should make more sense. However that's just the opinion from some dude on the internet

[Cepheus]

After the Beat Scholar 1.5 update, my system (8700k, win10) became highly unstable (freezing). Had to remove it and now everything seems fine again. Contacted Modalics about it.

[cptgone]

I think what beat scholar needs the most at this point is some sort of direction. Right now it's not a very good sampler/sample browser and also doesn't offer a lot of control via midi to trigger other samplers. Since you already have another drum plugin the latter should make more sense. However that's just the opinion from some dude on the internet

Great point.

- Beat Scholar's sequencer has a unique selling proposition
- there aren't many drum sequencers (with MIDI out) around (HY, Drumcomputer, perhaps Atlas)
- there are many drum engines with inadequate/missing built-in sequencer, so people are looking for a drum sequemcer that is feature complete (and once they start using it, they want to use it everywhere - heck, there are at least 2 peple here who have used Beat Scholar to sequence melodies already)

[Dr.Gunjah]

I think what beat scholar needs the most at this point is some sort of direction. Right now it's not a very good sampler/sample browser and also doesn't offer a lot of control via midi to trigger other samplers. Since you already have another drum plugin the latter should make more sense. However that's just the opinion from some dude on the internet

Great point.

- Beat Scholar's sequencer has a unique selling proposition
- there aren't many drum sequencers (with MIDI out) around (HY, Drumcomputer, perhaps Atlas)
- there are many drum engines with inadequate/missing built-in sequencer, so people are looking for a drum sequemcer that is feature complete (and once they start using it, they want to use it everywhere - heck, there are at least 2 peple here who have used Beat Scholar to sequence melodies already)

Yep, exactly.
I was pretty hyped for drumcomputer as you might have noticed but unfortunately after playing with it more the midi out implementation is not on the same level like the integrated features.
It's like there are 500 drum plugins out there and every one of them has a good idea but no one bothers to look left or right so basically the market is full of sequencers that are good at one thing but terrible at 5 other things and it's really frustrating as a customer to be honest.

So yeah, you could so say I'm SOO ready for a fully featured beat scholar update

[cptgone]

I was pretty hyped for drumcomputer as you might have noticed but unfortunately after playing with it more the midi out implementation is not on the same level like the integrated features.

What's lacking, then?

It has
- MIDI maps (you can add your own)
- MIDI out per lane (can be disactivated per lane)

[Dr.Gunjah]

Unless I'm missing something, the mapping zones don't work that well with the midi out. I've made a post about it in the sugar bytes forum: viewtopic.php?p=8818895#p8818895

The sequencer is still ok, but the playability with the mute section in combination with the mapped zones with different roll intervals made me impulse buy it and it turns out none of that works with midi out :/

edit: Note length is handled kinda weird too. You can set decay in the sequencer but it doesn't increase the note length on the midi out. Instead you get a certain midi cc that I think not all samplers can interpret.

[dayjob]

Unless I'm missing something, the mapping zones don't work that well with the midi out. I've made a post about it in the sugar bytes forum: viewtopic.php?p=8818895#p8818895

The sequencer is still ok, but the playability with the mute section in combination with the mapped zones with different roll intervals made me impulse buy it and it turns out none of that works with midi out :/

edit: Note length is handled kinda weird too. You can set decay in the sequencer but it doesn't increase the note length on the midi out. Instead you get a certain midi cc that I think not all samplers can interpret.

is this a drumcomputer thread now?

[218]

@Modalics, im sure this has already been asked but im too lazy to to through the entire thread

Would you ever consider making a sequencer only version of Beat Scholar? I think alot of peeps (myself included) would be interested in this

[Dr.Gunjah]

Unless I'm missing something, the mapping zones don't work that well with the midi out. I've made a post about it in the sugar bytes forum: viewtopic.php?p=8818895#p8818895

The sequencer is still ok, but the playability with the mute section in combination with the mapped zones with different roll intervals made me impulse buy it and it turns out none of that works with midi out :/

edit: Note length is handled kinda weird too. You can set decay in the sequencer but it doesn't increase the note length on the midi out. Instead you get a certain midi cc that I think not all samplers can interpret.

is this a drumcomputer thread now?

I'm sorry for derailing the thread a bit, but on the other hand I think pointing out issues with products from competitors may help modalics to avoid mistakes like that and turn beat scholar into a really special plugin. Anyway, I'll stop it now.

[OrLubianiker]

@Modalics, im sure this has already been asked but im too lazy to to through the entire thread

Would you ever consider making a sequencer only version of Beat Scholar? I think alot of peeps (myself included) would be interested in this

We have a MIDI FX version of Beat Scholar and EON for logic...that's basically the same except it's slotted in the MIDI FX inserts.

We frequently discuss this idea, also in the context of using the same method to control processing FX, sending out MIDI CC and other ideas like that.

Currently we're trying to work out a roadmap for additional Beat Scholar updates I mentioned here before such as probability, MIDI mapping improvements, per lane time sig etc....while developing another entirely new plugin.
Again, thank you guys for this discussion and for your excitement about Beat Scholar!

[cptgone]

Thanks Dr.Gunjah, sorry to hear that.
Plugins that can be expected to be updated have so much more to offer... Modalics seem to get that.

per lane time sig etc...

Ooh, that's a nice one

But Eyal and myself have been involved in Waves plugins such as CLA Mixhub, Berzerk Distortions, Flow-Motion Synth, Scheps Omni Channel and more... those are the ones I remember from the top of my head.

I always wondered if Flow-Motion is named after the Can album... you wouldn't happen to know?

[OrLubianiker]

Thanks Dr.Gunjah, sorry to hear that.
Plugins that can be expected to be updated have so much more to offer... Modalics seem to get that.

per lane time sig etc...

Ooh, that's a nice one

But Eyal and myself have been involved in Waves plugins such as CLA Mixhub, Berzerk Distortions, Flow-Motion Synth, Scheps Omni Channel and more... those are the ones I remember from the top of my head.

I always wondered if Flow-Motion is named after the Can album... you wouldn't happen to know?

Haha.. I'm quite sure it has nothing to do with the Can album, sorry to disappoint.
My guess is that it has something to do with Flow Motion being an FM synth...

[cptgone]

I always wondered if Flow-Motion is named after the Can album... you wouldn't happen to know?

Haha.. I'm quite sure it has nothing to do with the Can album, sorry to disappoint.

Thank you.
Not disappointed, I've been boycotting Waves all my life (I don't want to feel guilty over indirectly supporting certain regimes - although I now did, unintentionally )